Tent frame construction



Jan. 3, 1939. F. P. CLEARY TENT F RAME CONSTRUCTION 1 Filed Oct.

INVENTOR.

. Frank 1 C/eary BY Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TENT FRAME CONSTRUCTION Frank P. Clcary, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Cleary & Eide, a copartnership composed of Edgar S. Eide, E. A. Reed, and C. 1. Moore, all of Los Angeles Application October 11, 1937, Serial No.-168,363

5 Claims. (Cl. 135-3) Among the objects of my invention is to provide a tent frame construction eliminating the usual center pole, thus providing a tent with a substantially unobstructed interior with greater head room and more space; to supply a construction giving greater strength to the corners of a tent, thereby obtaining well distributed resistance to stress; to create a construction which provides with the canvas a three point contact with the ground, thereby distributing the strength around the entire tent; to provide a construction with parts attached to the canvas so as to prevent loss and delay in erection; to supply an adjustable construction adapted to fit varying sizes of umbrella or palmetto tents or any tents having sloping walls or walls inclined to the ground; said adjustable construction taking care of stress under varying atmospheric conditions, and suchother objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment of my invention, yet I wish it understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my tent frame construction; Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of my corner pieces; Fig. 3 is a detail view of my adjustable pole; Fig. 4 is a detail view of the top structure, and Fig. 5 is a front elevation of one corner of a tent showing my construction.

The embodiment selected to illustrate my invention comprises a tent it! of canvas or the like having a top H and preferably sloping walls l2. A pair of poles [3 are positioned on the ground or floor of the tent with their lower ends spaced on either side of the sloping walls adjacent the corner formed by said walls. Said poles extend upwardly slightly toward each other and their upper ends l4 fit into upwardly inclined holes I 5 of corner member Hi. My corner member It may be made of metal, wood, rubber or any other suitable material and is shaped to fit into the upper corner I! of the tent 16. The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2 shows a rounded back tapering to a top spike l8 and having a flat front face l9. Any other suitable form may be used to fit a. desired corner of a tent. My member l6 has a pair of holes beginning at the substantially flat bottom 39 and extending upwardly and inwardly in diagonal directions toward the center of the member l6 so as to receive the upper ends M of diagonally extending poles l3.

The spike l8 protrudes through an opening in the tent ill to hold the member l6 in fixed position, but any other suitable means may be used to attach the member IE to the corner of the tent, such as stitches, clamps, pockets or the like. It is within the contemplation of this invention that member l6 may either be removably or permanently attached to the tent.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 the tent has four corners I! to each of which is fitted one of my corner members I6 into which fit the upper ends of poles l3. The lower ends of poles 13 are spaced like legs on the ground or fioor of the tent as shown. The lower ends of poles 13 may have nonslip shoes 2|. Each of poles l3 may also be of continuous length or divided and connected together by a ferrule 22. The poles I3 and corner members l6 form the primary support for the tent. This primary structure also acts to support the superstructure for the top of the tent.

Each of corner members l6 adjacent the upper part of its face l9 has an opening 32 continuing inwardly and downwardly at an angle determined by the pitch of the top of the tent.

A top frame member 23 preferably has a spike 24 extending through the top of the tent and said member 23 is either removably or permanently attached to the tent by suitable means such as sewing, pockets, clamping means or the like.

Swingably attached to a circular bottom flange 25 of member 23 are a plurality of spaced rods 26, so that these rods open away from member 23 in various directions and are adapted to extend diagonally downward inside the canvas toward corner members l6, to fit within a ferrule 21 of rods 26. A thumb nut adjustment on rods 26 permits the entry of rods 26 into ferrule 2'! the desired distance for proper adjustment. The lower ends of rods 26 fit into openings 32 of corner member l6.

It is also within the contemplation of my invention that the poles l3 may be positioned so as to be spaced and parallel along one side of the tent as well as spaced but on sides substantially at right angles to each other at the corners as shown in Fig. 1. I may also employ only one pole l3 or even a plurality of poles [3 leading from the ground to corner member l6.

My corner member l6 may be shaped so as to fit fiat against the side of the tent to receive one or a plurality of spaced poles I3. In other words member I6 may function without the need of a corner and may be attached to the wall of a tent by any suitable means.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A tent frame construction comprising a plurality of pairs of corner poles, each pair of said poles having its lower ends spaced on the ground adjacent each of the corners of the tent, a plurality of corner members, each corner of the tent having a corner member adapted to fit into and be attached to said corner, said corner members each having means to receive the upper ends of a pair of said poles, a superstructure having a center body member attached to the top of the tent and a plurality of rods, the upper ends of each of said rods attached to said center body member and the lower end of each of said rods fitted into a respective corner member, said tent frame construction supporting a tent with unobstructed center space and without any center pole.

2. A corner member adapted to fit into and to be attached to the corner of a tent, said member having a pair of spaced openings on its bottom portion, said openings extending diagonally upwardly and inwardly to receive the upper ends of spaced poles leading to the ground, said member also having an opening on its front portion extending diagonally downwardly and inwardly to receive the lower end of a rod forming part of the superstructure of the tent.

3. In a tent frame construction a plurality of pairs of corner poles, each pair of said poles having its lower ends spaced on the ground adjacent each of the corners of the tent, and a plurality of corner members, each corner of the tent having a corner member adapted to fit into and be attached to said corner, said corner members each having means to receive the upper ends of a pair of said poles.

4. A corner member having a rounded back adapted to fit into the corner of a. tent, said rounded back tapering upwardly to end in a top spike, said spike adapted to attach said corner member to the tent, said corner member having a substantially flat front face and a substantially flat bottom, said bottom having a pair of holes extending upwardly and inwardly toward the center of the corner member to receive and securely position against accidental displacement the upper ends of similarly upwardly and inwardly extending poles leading to and spaced from each other at the ground, said face having adjacent its upper portion a hole extending downwardly and inwardly to receive the bottom end of a similarly downwardly and inwardly extending rod of the superstructure of the tent so as to securely position said rod against accidental displacement.

5. A tent frame construction comprising a plurality of pairs of corner poles, each pair of said poles having its lower ends spaced on the ground adjacent each of the corners of the tent, a plurality of corner members, one of said corner members positioned at each corner of the tent, each of said corner members having a rounded back so as to fit into the corner of the tent, the rounded back of each corner member tapering upwardly to end in a top spike, said spike adapted to attach its corner members to the tent, each of said corner members having a substantially flat bottom with a pair of holes extending upwardly and inwardly toward the center of the corner member, each pair of corner poles extending upwardly and inwardlyso that their upper ends are positioned within the holes in the ttom of one of the corner members, each of said corner members having a substantially flat front face with a hole extending from adjacent its upper portion downwardly and inwardly, a superstructurehaving a central member attached to the top of the tent and a plurality of downwardly and inwardly extending rods, the inner ends of each of these rods positioned within the hole in the face of one of the corner members.

FRANK P. CLEARY. 

